There are a lot of things I love about my job and this is one: our office has a full kitchen and we are encouraged to cook whenever we want. The kitchen happens to be next to the stockroom that is filled with our cookbooks AND there is a grocery store just down the street.

How awesome is that? Pretty awesome!

So today at work we are cooking out of one of the cookbooks we publish, Double Take by Jeremy Holt and AJ Rathbun. What I love about this book is that the recipes are pretty straightforward - whatever you make will turn out as expected.

Which seems a trivial point, but I own a LOT of cookbooks and believe me there are plenty of recipes out there that just don't ever work out. Which is completely frustrating at 8:30pm when you are hungry and just spend $20 on groceries and are otherwise out of things to eat in the house....

The other thing I like about this book is that each recipe has a vegetarian or meatatarian option. Considering that I am a part-time meatatarian this is ideal for me.

My co-worker J and I made the Tortilla Pie both ways. Melted cheese, beans, corn, chili powder, enchilada sauce, and chorizo - yes please! But you can make it with Soyrizo (which are sold in the Boston area at Trader Joes, but we ended up using spicy Tofettes because that was what was available and it tasted fine) and it looks about as delicious.

So now I have an extra copy of Double Take to give to one lucky person. I hope that it is you!!

Just leave a comment below - more than five words please so I know you've read this far, and there'll be a random drawing on Friday.

I like the "double-take" idea. Meatless cooking has evolved such that many recipes are appealing in their own right, instead of just trying to be a decent facsimile of [insert traditional meat-containing dish here]. However for those of us who just can't quit meat (and/or who can't handle all that soy), it's nice to retain the carnivorous option.

Are you kidding me?! (4) That is a cookbook for ME, your loving and adoring AUNTIE! I am married to a meatatarian and I am a (most of the time) vegetarian so if I don't get chosen in the "random" drawing, which frankly would be quite odd since I am your most loving and adoring AUNTIE, then I must secure a copy of that book by other means. Do you take rain checks? Or just credit cards.

Hi! How cool to give away the extra copy! I live here in sunny LA, full of all kinds of folks with all kinds of weird ass eating habits. Some of my best friends are vegetarians and a few are vegans. Putting out a party spread can be tough at times. Love to see what is in this cookbook. Love that AJ Rathburn, so I expect good things! Thanks!

So I fell off the blog writing horse, and then the horse ran away and left me to wander in the writers desert. It's hard to write all the time when you do it because you feel like it because sometimes you just don't feel it, y'know?

But then I was invited to join the Boston chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier and after the annual meeting last night at Forge Baking Company, I remembered that I do actually like writing randomly about food and things related to eating, drinking, and basically being merry.